...
The men here, armed with grenades and rifles, seem a ludicrous match for U.S. forces, whose superior weaponry is evident at every checkpoint in the country.
But two leaders of guerrilla cells told a Knight Ridder reporter and photographer in separate interviews that they would fight until the last vestige of the American presence in Iraq is gone. Their fate, one said, is "victory or martyrdom."
The interviews, conducted nine days apart in late August and early September, were the most extensive to date granted by the fighters who are killing Americans, and the visit to the camp was the first by journalists covering the war here.
...
The two cell leaders said their fighters primarily were former Iraqi army officers and young Iraqis who had joined because they were angry over the deaths or arrests of family members during U.S. raids in the hunt for Saddam Hussein and his supporters.
...
The anti-American forces appear to be more organized than some U.S. intelligence and military officials thought. Cells receive orders and intelligence from Diyala, which lies within the northern "Sunni Triangle" of danger. According to the fighters, the Diyala leadership oversees about 100 guerrillas, including an all-women's unit, and is backed by private donations as well as Syrian funding, according to the two cell leaders. Both said they had been told by superiors not to contact members of other cells for fear of infiltrators.
Abu Mohammed seemed confident that Saddam is directing at least some of the activity. He said he'd heard that leaders many levels above him had met recently with the fallen Iraqi leader.
Still, he said, the dictator has no chance of returning to power because of the shame of losing Baghdad and because of relatives who turned in his sons and other key figures for rewards.
"We love Saddam Hussein for one thing - he has a big mind," Abu Mohammed said. "He knows how to think and how to plan. He made our hearts as strong as steel."
...
"I promise you," he said. "The first day Chalabi is president, we will bomb his house no matter who is inside."(more)
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/6763724.htm
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